REAL PEOPLE, REAL ISSUES

June 2008

June 26, 2008

The Naked Cowboy, a fixture of New York's Times Square who plays
guitar in his underwear, chewed out M&M's on
Wednesday after a judge allowed his trademark infringement
lawsuit against the sweets maker to proceed.Robert Burck, 37, a guitar-playing cowboy dressed only in a pair
of underpants, white boots and a Stetson hat, has sued Mars Inc for
millions of dollars for dressing an animated blue M&M with a
remarkably similar outfit.District Court Judge Denny Chin rejected Burck's privacy claim,
saying the law protected the name portrait or picture of a "living
person", not a character created or a role played by a living
person.But Chin allowed the false endorsement claim to proceed, ruling
that ``he plausibly alleges that consumers seeing defendants'
advertisements would conclude - incorrectly - that he had endorsed
M&M candy.''The blond-haired cowboy, who works out every day to maintain his
muscular frame, said he would never endorse the colourful
candy."When they dressed up the M&M to personify the Naked Cowboy,
they implied that I was endorsing their product," he told NBC
television."Type II diabetes and childhood obesity is (an) epidemic," he
said. "I am the opposite of that. I don't endorse that
product." SOURCE:SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has charmed Queen
Elizabeth as she welcomed him to Buckingham Palace."You look younger every time I see you," the 89-year-old Nobel
Peace Prize laureate told the British sovereign, 82, as she had him
round for an informal chat.Mandela is in London for a giant 90th birthday concert in Hyde
Park on Friday in support of his 46664 AIDS campaign, named after
his old prison number.The Queen and the elder statesman have met on several occasions
and appear to share a warm friendship.Inside her official residence, Mandela, wearing a trademark
colourful shirt, this time gold with a leaf pattern, was helped
forward by a palace aide and a walking stick as he slowly stepped
forward to greet the monarch.As the pair sat opposite each other, Queen Elizabeth, smiling,
told Mandela: "It's very nice weather, arranged just for you."The former president was accompanied by his wife Graca
Machel.Mandela was to host a private fundraising dinner later in
London, with celebrities and world leaders expected to attend. Queen, Razorlight, Annie Lennox and Simple Minds are among the
artists on the bill for Friday's concert, which will be broadcast
around the world. SOURCE:SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court says Americans have a right to own
guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices' first major
pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history. The court's 5-4 ruling strikes down the District of Columbia's
32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the
Second Amendment. The decision goes further than even the Bush
administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact.
The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since
its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: "A well regulated
militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of
the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."The basic issue for the justices was whether the amendment protects an
individual's right to own guns no matter what, or whether that right is
somehow tied to service in a state militia.
Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for four colleagues, said the
Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns held
and used for self-defense in the home."
In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority "would
have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to
limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate
civilian uses of weapons."
He said such evidence "is nowhere to be found." SOURCE:NYT.COM

MasterCard Worldwide agreed on Wednesday to pay $1.8 billion to its credit card rival, American Express, to settle claims related to a 2004 antitrust lawsuit.The settlement comes about seven months after Visa
paid more than $2.1 billion to American Express to put similar claims
behind as it as raced ahead with plans for an initial public offering
in March. MasterCard, which went public two years ago, had been under
pressure to resolve the suit since uncertainty surrounding the
litigation was one of the few clouds hanging over the rapidly rising
stock.Under the terms of the deal, MasterCard will make the
$1.8 billion in payments to American Express in quarterly installments
over three years. It will book an after-tax charge of approximately $1
billion for the settlement costs in the second quarter.The
agreement, reached late Tuesday night, brings the total that American
Express has collected to more than $4 billion. That makes it the
richest in corporate history. With losses rising and the economy
slowing, the deal comes at a time when American Express could use the
money.“Business conditions continue to weaken in the U.S. and
so far this month we have seen credit indicators deteriorate beyond our
expectations,” the chairman and chief executive of American Express, Kenneth I. Chenault, said in a statement.
“The antitrust settlement we’ve reached with MasterCard provides us
with a multi-year source of funds that should, among other things, help
to lessen the impact of this weakening economic cycle and, when
conditions improve, give us the ability to step up investments in the
business.” SOURCE:NYT.COM

Janet Jackson was apparently blindsided by news that her longtime boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, told People magazine that they're finally ready to have a baby.Continue Reading... After making her film debut opposite her father Will Smith in the blockbuster hit 'I Am Legend', Willow Smith's next film should be more family oriented that her friends can come out and see her in, especially when she's featured with one of today's hottest child actors in the business, Abigail Breslin in 'Kit Kittredge: An American Girl'.Continue Reading....Freshly Unwrapped: New Music Tuesday The Hiphop and Books Initiative is pleased to announce that more star power has been added to our mission of encouraging reading and the importance of staying in school. We are pleased to announce that the fantastic dance group STATUS QUO from MTV's America's Best Dance Crew, Season One is now a proud supporter of our music and literacy campaign. Continue Reading Brazilian model Rodrigo Rothen makes it to Page Six thanks to his naked shower at the Rosa Chá show this past weekend. The boys at DSquared2 took over Milan, and so did the fashion bear at Vivienne Westwood. The 2008 Face of Global Sex research developed by condom manufacturer Durex ranked Brazil first amongst twenty five countries in terms of sexual satisfaction. According to the study, 80% of the people in the country claimed to have a satisfactory and healthy sex life. Continue Reading...LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British rock band Coldplay's new album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop music chart on Tuesday, largely bucking the sales slides that have affected other musicians, the group's label said on Tuesday. Continue Reading.... LONDON (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai urged the United Nations on Wednesday to isolate President Robert Mugabe and said a peacekeeping force was needed in Zimbabwe.Continue Reading....Another high-profile black politician comes out for gay marriage. Marion Barry, the former mayor of Washington DC and current member of DC Council, announces he will support a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the District. Continue Reading.....News recently hit the net that Game and Buck will be releasing joint mixtape next month. Game associate Nu Jerzey Devil hit SOHH up with the details."[The mixtape is] not gonna be totally Game and Buck, but Buck will have some features on there, couple of songs," Nu Jerzey Devil told SOHH. "Not even on some disses or none of that, we just gonna go ahead and make good music, 'You Know What It Is Volume 5.'" Continue Reading...In honor of Gay Pride, Cinemax is premiering the documentary, When I Knew, inspired by Robert Trachtenberg’s book of the same name, on Wednesday June 25 at 7:30pm. Directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato asked more than 150 people in five cities “When did you know?” The resulting film spotlights 16 of the interviewees of various ages, genders and lifestyles. Continue Reading....News & Features Track Trials: Women's preview--This is perhaps the most wide-open event of the entire Trials. Allyson Felix, Marshevet Hooker and Muna Lee have all run faster than 11 seconds this year. Torri Edwards, Carmelita Jeter, Angela Williams, Bianca Knightand twins MeLisa and Mikele Barber are all capable of top three finishes. The four-round format seems to favor the durable Lauryn Williams, who rates the slightest of edges. Continue Reading....

As Senator Barack Obama
courted voters in Iowa last December, Representative Keith Ellison, the
country’s first Muslim congressman, stepped forward eagerly to help.Mr. Ellison believed that Mr. Obama’s message of unity resonated
deeply with American Muslims. He volunteered to speak on Mr. Obama’s
behalf at a mosque in Cedar Rapids, one of the nation’s oldest Muslim
enclaves. But before the rally could take place, aides to Mr. Obama
asked Mr. Ellison to cancel the trip because it might stir controversy.
Another aide appeared at Mr. Ellison’s Washington office to explain.“I
will never forget the quote,” Mr. Ellison said, leaning forward in his
chair as he recalled the aide’s words. “He said, ‘We have a very
tightly wrapped message.’ ”When Mr. Obama began his
presidential campaign, Muslim Americans from California to Virginia
responded with enthusiasm, seeing him as a long-awaited champion of
civil liberties, religious tolerance and diplomacy in foreign affairs.
But more than a year later, many say, he has not returned their embrace.While
the senator has visited churches and synagogues, he has yet to appear
at a single mosque. Muslim and Arab-American organizations have tried
repeatedly to arrange meetings with Mr. Obama, but officials with those
groups say their invitations — unlike those of their Jewish and
Christian counterparts — have been ignored. Last week, two Muslim women
wearing head scarves were barred by campaign volunteers from appearing
behind Mr. Obama at a rally in Detroit.In interviews, Muslim
political and civic leaders said they understood that their support for
Mr. Obama could be a problem for him at a time when some Americans are
deeply suspicious of Muslims. Yet those leaders nonetheless expressed
disappointment and even anger at the distance that Mr. Obama has kept
from them. SOURCE:NYT.COM

Time Warner Cable and Comcast are launching
tests this week of new management controls for bandwidth consumption --
alternatives to the approach of throttling packets outright, though
they may not prove to be any more popular. Both major cable
ISPs are limiting their tests for now to just a few places in the US.
Yesterday, it was learned that TWC plans to try out a new metered
billing scheme that will charge users on the basis of individual
bandwidth consumption. Although the metered approach could curb usage among
some subscribers, the cable firm might also stand to gain some extra
revenues among those willing to pay the price. Elsewhere,
Comcast has announced plans to test a method of controlling traffic
problems that slows file transfer speeds for individual heavy users
during peak times of Internet use. Comcast's tests are slated to start
on Friday in Chambersbug, Pennsylvania and Warrenton, Virginia. Meanwhile, Comcast is still officially under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission on charges that it has been blocking P2P file transfers. During FCC hearings, Comcast has denied blocking any Web site, application, or protocol. Beginning Thursday, TWC subscribers in Beaumont,
Texas, will be given monthly "allowances" for the amount of data they
upload and download. Those who exceed the limit will be required to pay
$1 per gigabyte. SOURCE: BetaNEWS.COM

June 23, 2008

Obama can’t seem to escape the smoke of his youthful indiscretions wafting after him on the campaign trail. Just four days after he told a group of high school students that he had experimented with drugs in high school, Obama had to admit to it again at a town hall ere.SOURCE:CLUTCH MAGAZINE.COM Although doctors have advised him to avoid anything stressful, Nelson Mandela (who is pictured arriving to his London hotel on Monday) is gearing up for a week of events celebrating his 90th birthday.CONTINUE READINGRihanna's got mom's seal of approval. The hitmaking beauty made a trip to GBK Productions' Fire & Ice gifting lounge for the BET Awards over the weekend with her boyfriend, fellow music hotshot Chris Brown and his mom, Joyce Hawkin CONTINUE READING Timbaland may have teamed up with everyone from Justin Timberlake and Madonna to Ashlee Simpson, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, but it's his latest partnership that will hopefully be the most successful.The prolific hip-hop producer tied the knot with longtime publicist and baby mama Monique Idlett in Aruba Sunday. CONTINUE READING...Video: You've heard about Shaq's freestyle rap ripping Kobe. Now you can watch it right here!There have been rumors flying around the internet about an altercation at Tryst night club in Las Vegas between Javon Walker and members of Floyd Mayweather’s entourage. CONTINUE READING... On the day Lil Wayne’s already-platinum Tha Carter III came out, Weezy talked to Rolling Stone about his unique sales strategy, Barack Obama, tattoos and the drawbacks of being high all the time. Click here to check out Wayne reacting to Jay-Z calling him “my heir” and why he used to leave rhymes on Baby’s answering machine. The 25th annual awards will air live on MTV at 9 p.m. ET, and the show's host — as well as a list of performers, nominees and presenters — will be unveiled in the coming weeks.CONTINUE READING... THE BET AWARDS AIRS TONIGHT JUNE 24 8PM ET

Raphael Saadiq recently released a new snippet from his upcoming Columbia Records release. The song is entitled, 100 Yard Dash and definitely has a 60s feel to it. Peep it above. Shout out to Dope Joints for sending this one over.

Global icons from music, television, radio, film and sports will
conduct a historical, groundbreaking and informative national tour on
women’s empowerment. New York City will serve as the first stop and
official launch of the national tour. This exciting panel discussion
will address civic engagement, the portrayal of women in the media,
health care, leadership development, career enhancement and more. The
panel will be followed by a live celebrity performance.For more information and free tickets please visit www.ween.org

As the saying goes, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." After listening to Prof. John Jackson on C-SPAN this weekend, I am feeling a little, well, paranoid. Jackson, author of "Race Paranoia," outlines a new paradigm in race relations. He distinguishes race, racism and racial paranoia. Race is a social construct; previously non-white groups have become white. In this new political landscape, race has been "pushed so below the surface that we think it no longer matters."Jackson argues that straight-up racists have also been pushed out of sight: Archie Bunker
is dead. No one is a self-proclaimed racist. That's not the game you
want to play. That's progress but it also means that we're living in a
world where we have to talk about race when there are no explicit
racists. Jackson said racial paranoia is real. It is fueled by politically correct racial interaction, residential segregation and segregated social networks. "We are not privy to what's going on in other communities." He added:Barack Obama has to walk an interesting tightrope
between the candidate who doesn't want to talk about race and the
candidate who's going to get the country to talk about race. His
candidacy demonstrates that schizophrenia – putting out fires on one
end and lighting them on the other end. SOURCE:BLACKVOICES.COM

OAKLAND
— It was a bloody weekend in Oakland as seven people were killed and an
eighth wounded in a series of street shootings Saturday and Sunday. By
late Sunday night, police had not determined if all the shootings were
related, but the series of homicides brought this year's total to 66,
far ahead of the 44 slayings during the same period last year. Officer
Vic Bullock said police have to deal with these kinds of incidents
periodically. "We just have weekends like this from time to time.
There's no rhyme or reason," he said. "We get more violence sometimes
with the longer daylight hours. I don't know if there's ever been a
study done, but people stay out longer."The shootings took place
at the following times and locations: 8 p.m. Saturday, 5900 Foothill
Blvd.; 10:30 p.m. Saturday, 300 block East 18th Street; 1:20 a.m.
Sunday, 5900 block East 17th Street; 3:30 a.m. Sunday, 8600 MacArthur
Blvd.; 4:18 a.m. Sunday, 90th Avenue; and a double homicide at 6:15
p.m. Sunday at 6200 Bromley Ave. A third person was wounded in that
attack and listed in grave condition at an area hospital Sunday night.When
the East 18th shooting occurred, a Lucky grocery store employee said
she was sitting on a bench nearby, waiting for a ride home. She said
she heard about six shots, and then two cars sped off in opposite
directions. She said there was no help from passers-by. "I was really amazed by the vibe on the street here," she said. She also took issue with the emergency response."I'm
also really upset at how long it took the police to get here," she
said, adding that paramedics arrived in about five minutes, followed by
the police three minutes later. "If you know there's a gunshot
and someone's hurt, you need to be there immediately. Who knows? I
don't know where he was hit, but the boy's life might have been saved."Bullock said he didn't know how long the response was but explained that there are factors in emergency responses. "People were walking by like it was an everyday thing. Nobody rushed over to help him."SOURCE:OAKLANDTRIBUNE

June 22, 2008

LOS ANGELES, June 20 (UPI) -- "The Tyra Banks Show" won the Daytime
Emmy Award for outstanding informative talk show in Hollywood Friday
night."I'm shaking," Banks, the talk show's host and executive producer, said as she took the stage to collect her prize."I have such a strong history with daytime television. My mama...
Where's my mama? My mama's crying like a baby! Hi Mama," Banks said,
explaining how she spent many days when she was growing up, watching
soap operas and talk shows with her grandmother while her mother worked
two jobs."To be here on this stage, Grandma Fanny, this is amazing!" Banks said. Her show beat out "Dr. Phil" and "A Place of Our Own" for the honor.Ellen DeGeneres
picked up the Emmy for talk show host for her eponymous series. Also
nominated were the presenters from "The View" and "Live with Regis and
Kelly.""I never take this for granted," a beaming DeGeneres told the crowd. "It's not what we do it for, but it feels so good."DeGeneres then described her fans as "amazing, amazing people" and told her girlfriend Portia de Rossi, "You're spectacular.""Life is beautiful," DeGeneres added. "Thank you so much.""Rachael Ray" won the Emmy for outstanding entertainment talk show. Also nominated were "The View" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."SOURCE:UPI.COM

AKRON, Ohio --
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade cruised city streets on bicycles Saturday for charity. Soon, the NBA superstars will be touring China for gold.James and Wade have been selected to play on the U.S. Olympic
basketball team, which will be formally introduced on Monday by coach
Mike Krzyzewski and USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo.
The 12-man squad, which will also include NBA MVP Kobe Bryant, Jason
Kidd and Carmelo Anthony, will try to win a gold medal that has eluded
the Americans since 1996.This will be the second Olympics for Cleveland's James and Miami's
Wade, who were on the American team that finished a disappointing third
and won a bronze medal at the Athens Games in 2004. "It's easy to focus on USA Basketball right now," James said. "We have
one goal, and that's to win a gold medal. We're very excited about it.
We don't worry about the rest. We worry about getting in shape and
getting ready to win a gold medal, that's our only concern." James was joined at his "King for Kids Bike-a-thon" by Wade,
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, former Indians center fielder Kenny Lofton
and NBA great Spencer Haywood, the leading scorer on the 1968 U.S. team
that won gold in Mexico City. More than 2,000 riders took part in the
event held in James' hometown. While James' spot on the U.S. roster was a given, Wade's wasn't assured until recently. His season ended in March, shut down by a left knee that never was
right following surgery in 2007. Wade has been in Chicago working out
since early May, and while he was there, both James and New Orleans
Hornets guard Chris Paul -- also expected to be named to the U.S. team
-- joined their good friend to help him polish his game. SOURCE:LATIMES.COM

In the competitive run-up to the U.S. Olympic swimming team trials, Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff carried a heavy workload. So it came as no surprise yesterday when the trials schedule showed
Phelps competing in nine events over the eight-day meet that begins
June 29 and Hoff in seven events.Phelps, a six-time gold medalist at the 2004 Summer Games, entered the
100- and 200-meter freestyles, 200 and 400 individual medleys, 100 and
200 backstrokes, 100 and 200 butterflys and 400 free. He is the world-record holder in the 200 free, 200 IM, 200 fly and 400
IM. At recent meets, his smile has gotten bigger and his times have
fallen, and he shows no lingering effects from a broken wrist suffered
in November.Towson's Hoff, looking to make her second Olympics team, will compete
in the 200 backstroke, 200 IM and 400 IM and the 100, 200, 400 and 800
freestyles. She is the U.S. record holder in the 200 and 400 freestyles
and 400 IM.The trials will be held at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.Phelps, 22, from Rodgers Forge, is stalking the same goal as in 2004:
to break Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single
Games. To better his chances this time he has added three events.Hoff is the only U.S. woman to qualify for all 13 events at the trials.
She added the 800 freestyle this year for fun and is now seeded second.Hoff, who turned 19 this month, said competing in a cluster of events works to her advantage. "It takes the pressure off me being focused on one chance to win a gold
medal. I have tons of chances. It allows me to be a lot more relaxed
and take each race one at a time." SOURCE:BALTIMORESUN.COM

JOHANNESBURG — Only five days before Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff election, the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced Sunday that he was pulling out of the race because armed forces backing President Robert Mugabe have made it clear that anyone who votes for Mr. Tsvangirai faces a real possibility of being killed.At a news conference, Mr. Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, or M.D.C., said he was unwilling to ask
the party’s supporters to go to the polls on Friday “when that vote
will cost them their lives.”Mr. Tsvangirai’s decision came on a
day when governing party youth militia armed with iron bars, sticks and
other weapons beat his supporters as they sought to attend a rally for
him in Harare.It was the latest incident in a tumultuous
campaign season in which Mr. Tsvangirai has been repeatedly detained,
his party’s chief strategist has been jailed on treason charges most
observers believe are trumped up, and rampant state-sponsored violence
has left at least 86 dead and thousands injured, according to tallies
by doctors treating the victims.Over the past week, a growing
chorus of leaders in Africa and abroad have declared unequivocally that
a free and fair election is now impossible in Zimbabwe. There
are growing cracks in the longtime solidarity of African leaders with
Mr. Mugabe, a liberation hero whose defiant anti-western rhetoric for
years struck a chord in the region, but it remains to be seen whether
Zimbabwe’s neighbors will censure Mr. Mugabe or take even tougher
steps, such as economic sanctions, to isolate his regime. SOURCE:NYTIMES.COM

September 2012

Comments Policy

The opinions expressed on the blog are the personal opinions of the posted respective blogger(s), and in no way reflect the opinions of KIRO blogspot and its affiliate social networks.

Comments Policy

Comments are welcomed and encouraged on this site, but there are some instances where comments will be edited or deleted as follows: Comments deemed to be spam or questionable spam will be deleted. Including a link to relevant content is permitted, but comments should be relevant to the post topic. Comments including profanity will be deleted. Comments containing language or concepts that could be deemed offensive will be deleted.
Comments that attack a person individually will be deleted.
The owner of this blog reserves the right to edit or delete any comments submitted to this blog without notice. This comment policy is subject to change at anytime.